If you're spending any amount of your well earned money on a smart phone it's probably worth looking into how you can best contribute to it's longevity.
The cost of screen protectors can vary greatly. You can get cheap tempered glass for around $10, or shatter proof film that sits around $45, and of course, everything in between. Regardless or how much you spend, the question stands, is it worth it?
There was a time not too long ago where it was absolutely necessary to put a screen protector on your phone. Fortunately, modern smartphones usually sport tough glass such as Gorilla, Ceramic or Sapphire glass.
Gorilla glass is toughened, hard glass with high scratch resistance. Ceramic Shield is a very cool piece of technology. It's embedded with ceramic nano-crystals that are smaller than the wavelength of light, making it appear just as transparent as normal glass.
Both are quite good and both are made by Corning.
Damage Control
Fingerprints
Fingerprints are annoying and don't look good at all. A lot of screen protectors that a PET based are anti-fingerprint. Even the glass ones now can have a simple chemical based solution applied to be completely devoid of chances of having fingerprints.
Fortunately, you can also clean the screen easily with a microfiber cloth.
To unlock your phone, FaceID is more popular than finger print scanning, but I'd still like to mention that screen protectors in most cases will not impact this. Of course, this is not a rule of thumb. Earlier this year when the Google Pixel 6 came out, people added screen protectors on and found that they couldn't use a screen protector due to sensitivity issues (Source: HERE). Of course, this wasn't applicable to the thiner more flexible screen protectors.
As We Age
This may sound like a weird title, but screen protectors actually become more important as we age. A study publish in Springer found that screen protectors with smooth surfaces, matte touch material and a translucent visual exterior seems to be the most suitable for elderly smartphone users and their ability to use smart phone effectively.
This makes most protectors suitable. There wasn't a large difference in the materials. The main finding suggested the importance of simply having one.
Our Recommendation
I'd like to finish with one final thought. Whether you choose to get a screen protector or not, that won't dictate the protection of your phone. The only way to keep your phone in pristine condition is to treat it with care. Don't throw it across the room, keep it loosely in a bag with other hard object, and definitely try your best not to drop it.
Tom, Kixup Repairs